Ground Balancing

One thing to always keep in mind when prospecting with a detector is that each area will be different and the prospector will need to see how quietly his or her detector works. If the prospector hears too many noises in the ground, they can confuse him and block him from choosing the real signals. In this case the prospector would need to set the sensitivity down to a lower level. Besides this, if the prospector is going to be using a meter or discriminator to help him target the good targets from the unwanted ones, he will not be able to use a very high level of sensitivity to where the needle continues on jumping around when there are not any targets under the loop. The prospector should instead put the threshold hum at a faint level, place the control volume on the headphones to where it has a strong (but not too strong) response to the target and the detector ground balanced and then he will be ready to begin the searching. If you are in an area that has smaller pieces of gold you may want to consider using a smaller four inch coil for example on the detector. Check out the different spots such as the tops of the ridges, gullies, the steep banks, and other place you think the gold nuggets could be located. Even though this could take a long time it is important and ground balancing is absolutely essential.

When on a search it is important to go slow in which the detector is being used in a no motion mode, to take your time and not rush especially in areas where there are very small targets and gold pieces. Keep in mind also that the smaller targets do not sound the way coins do. You need to remember that you are looking for a slight increase in the threshold hum, which sounds like that of a coin only the sound in a lot smaller and fainter. If there is an area with decomposed bedrock move your loop over it very slowly and listen to hear for a faint small sound.